A short month, so maybe that’s why it seemed less productive.

Mom’s Lady Sweater

Hooray, it’s done at last and Mom loves it. That’s mostly the color, but it’s hard to go wrong with Sundara. This is Marina over Icicles, which is definitely the kind of blue that my mom loves. The pattern is the incredibly popular February Lady Sweater, which after this second one I don’t think I’ll make again.

Jett’s Socks

Since I made Fuzzy Feet for everyone else in my sister’s family I wanted to make something to keep baby Jett’s feet warm too. Alas, slippers would not stay on a baby, and I’ve discovered that booties are not a win. I went with socks, and the first pattern I pulled off of a ravelry search that was free and came in toddler size (Margaret’s kids have big feet, so I went a size up) was the Hat Heel pattern from Knitty.

The concept is great. Instead of toe-up or cuff down, start with a heel, and then work out. I imagine that if I were a fan of making socks I would thrilled. As it turns out, I am still not a sock knitter. I make socks only because sometimes (like this winter) it becomes apparent that there are occasions that call for hand-made wool socks because you can’t actually buy anything warm enough in the stores. So, if you are a sock knitter, this is a pattern you will probably want to try, preferably not in a solid color like the one I used because the coolness of the concept will be clearer in a variegated color. The pattern itself really could have been more concisely written, but if you can put up with the choose-your-own-adventure verbose instructions you may like the socks.

Just Hoping Baby Sweater

The yoke is finished, the first sleeve is finished, and the second sleeve is mostly finished. This one has been doing it’s job and eating up my partial balls of Sundara sock. I am now down to a single, much smaller partial ball of Sundara Sock in Brambleberry, and since I’m doing narrow stripes this project is now in hibernation until I complete some other project in Sundara Sock that generates leftovers. I have a project in mind. It’s a pair of knee-high stranded color-work socks in a pattern I’ve done before. As noted, this winter has been a reminder that such things fill a necessary need in my wardrobe. As also noted, I don’t actually enjoy making socks, so this may take a while. I think my vague plan is to start the socks by summer so as to have them ready by next winter. Since there is no baby yet for this sweater that’s OK.

Other Yarn Thoughts

I started working on something else too this month. I accidentally cast on a design project I’ve been thinking about for a while. (Yes, it is totally possible to accidentally cast on a knitting project, ask any obsessive knitter.) For years I’ve toyed with the idea of submitting a pattern to Knitty. Maybe this will be the one. I think its cool enough. I am a bit discouraged, though, because the design is for kids (though it could easily be made for an adult). Knitty hasn’t published a child or baby item in the past three issues and has apparently been turning away many such patterns and encouraging people to submit them to Petit Purls instead. Assuming that I actually get my act together on this one and finish the two prototypes, write out the pattern, find some way to draft a schematic and get decent photographs (the hardest part for me), should I even bother trying for Knitty? Should I get more yarn and make an adult-sized version to increase my chances of success? Doing a third prototype would cost considerable time. Should I skip Knitty entirely and just submit to Petit Purls even though they are much less well known and I’ve never made one of their patterns? I suppose I should clarify that trying to get published by someone else is purely an exercise in vanity; quitting my day job to design patterns full time isn’t an economically viable option. I am interested in your thoughts, oh yarn-loving friends.